


Dinner Tragedy

by ManicAnarchist



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Drabble, One Shot, marriage law
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-27
Updated: 2017-04-27
Packaged: 2018-10-24 13:55:02
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 653
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10743048
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ManicAnarchist/pseuds/ManicAnarchist
Summary: Sometimes, people surprise you, and then they leave you.A prompt inspired drabble.





	Dinner Tragedy

This is a quick little drabble inspired by a prompt in a facebook group. Please be gentle with me, I am not usually a writer, but this just needed to be written! Cheers for reading. XX Manic

Neville Longbottom sat staring blankly at the wall opposite. The woman he loved had just died in his arms. 

He’d never hoped to love her, much less have her love him in return. When the marriage law had passed, soon after the end of Voldemort's reign, most affected by the law had been stunned and left scrambling to make sense of having their choices taken from them, again. But the Wizarding population had taken some serious hits during the war and the Ministry felt they needed to take desperate measures in such desperate times. He understood. He really did. He’d lost almost everything at the hands of the Dark Lord and his twisted followers and he was willing to do his duty to their shattered community. 

When he’d found out who he’d been paired with he’d been dismayed, to say the least. He remembered her of course, from Hogwarts. She’d been a Slytherin and he doubted she’d ever favored him with a second glance during their years at school. His Gran had been devastated. Pansy Parkinson was the daughter of a convicted Death Eater, how could the Ministry possibly think pairing such a girl with her sweet Neville was fair or just after all he’d already suffered?  
Their relationship started out as most under the new law. They were given just 8 weeks to marry and they were to conceive their first child within 18 months of the commencement of their marriage.  
When they’d met, Pansy had surprised him. Away from the influence of her family she was actually a smart, witty and fascinating woman. A far cry from the shallow girl he remembered. Conversation was easy and the attraction was mutual. He was endlessly surprised by how easy it was being with her and they quickly fell in love. Even his Gran was taken with her. 

Pansy and Neville had been married just 11 months when tragedy struck as they left their favorite restaurant after celebrating their friends Ron and Daphne's first wedding anniversary. Their own anniversary was just around the corner. 

The Ministry had been working hard to round up all known Death Eaters and sympathizers but there were still a few rogues out their and Pansy’s father had made himself many enemies after the end of the war. He was instrumental in putting away many of Voldemort's inner circle in a futile attempt to earn himself leniency, yet he was still rotting in a cell in Azkaban with Pansy being the only way to get to him, even though she herself loathed him. Tonight one of them had succeeded.  


Neville heard footsteps approaching and looked up from the wall to find himself in Harry’s office. Harry was an Auror so he guessed it made sense to be there but he had no real memory of entering the office. It wasn’t Harry who approached him now though, rather his Wife, Hermione.  
“Come on Neville, let’s get you cleaned up before Harry returns” she said quietly.  
He looked down at his hands to see them covered in blood. His Wife’s blood. His robes were stained too. His silence finally gave way to sobs as he watched the blood slowly disappear with Hermione’s muttered spells. When she was done she held something out to him. His mother’s ring. His wife’s ring. It was a stunning antique, an oval diamond centered in a cluster of small round diamonds set in white gold. It had looked stunning on her delicate hand.  
“Harry thought you might want this” she whispered.  
Neville looked up at her, fresh tears in his eyes.  
“I recognize the curse he used Hermione” he choked out. “I remember hearing about it in 6th year. Sectumsempra…"


End file.
